- Primary Subject: Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story (Season 4)
- Key Update: Ian Brennan revealed that Sarah Paulson’s Aileen Wuornos was included in Season 4 to explore the broader theme of female rage, though Wuornos is not under consideration for Season 5.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: September 21, 2026
- Quick Answer: Sarah Paulson’s Aileen Wuornos appears to highlight themes of historical female rage, but showrunner Ian Brennan confirmed she won't lead Season 5.
Monster co-showrunner Ian Brennan reveals why Sarah Paulson’s Aileen Wuornos was included in the fourth season of the hit Netflix series, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.
Co-created by Ryan Murphy and Brennan, the biographical crime drama focuses on a different killer or case each season.
But since Wuornos was born nearly a century after Borden’s infamous case, does her appearance hint that Monster Season 5 could finally tell her story?
Why Is Sarah Paulson's Aileen Wuornos in Monster Season 4?
Aileen Wuornos was not directly part of Lizzie Borden’s story, but the woman who was once described as the first female serial killer was surprisingly included in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.
True to the show’s tradition, Monster has featured people who were connected to or influenced by its main subject’s story through the ages. In this case, it’s Wuornos.
In fact, Wuornos plays a major role in scenes that take place decades after Lizzie Borden’s story.
“She’s such a fascinating character,” Ian Brennan told Tudum. “She could easily be her own season of the show.”
Wuornos served as an inheritor of Lizzie’s bloody legacy. In fact, the fourth season’s lead star, Ella Beatty, believes “there’s a connection” between the two women that Ryan Murphy and Brennan would like to explore.
Sarah Paulson’s character also plays a crucial part in the thematic focus of the new season, especially since it’s the first season to center on a female killer.
“I knew from the beginning that Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan were really interested in exploring what brings a woman to the point of violence,” Beatty revealed.
That said, Wuornos’ presence in the series helps thread that needle, with her story potentially offering another perspective on what drives women to kill.
Will Monster Season 5 Tell Aileen Wuornos’ Story?
Aileen Wuornos was a sex worker who killed seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. She was eventually convicted of six of the murders, drawing national attention and sparking debate over her treatment during the court proceedings.
While she was executed by the state of Florida in 2002, her story endures, with Charlize Theron portraying her in Patty Jenkins’ film Monster.
There was also a documentary, Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killer, that retells her story using archival footage and prison interviews on Netflix.
So, will viewers see her story told next in Monster Season 5? Unfortunately, despite her appearance in the fourth season, she was not part of Ian Brennan’s shortlist.
“There’s so many. We’ve talked about BTK (Dennis Rader). [He] is a fascinating one… Ted Bundy, Green River Killer… We’ve toyed with Luigi Mangione, who is fascinating,” he told People while revealing the next killers the show would feature next season.
Sure, there are numerous killers to choose from, but finding the one who should lead the Netflix show was difficult, as they should be “truly fascinating.”
"It’s all tricky because most murderers just aren’t that interesting. It’s horrific, and you don’t want to watch it. That’s what’s so tricky about the show is finding a subject matter that you can spend 10 hours with,” he continued. “It’s one thing to watch a movie about something, to spend 90 minutes in the head of someone, but six or seven hours is a whole other thing."
But as Monster is co-created with Ryan Murphy, both he and Murphy should find a subject they could both agree is the right person to be the next focus of the series.
"That’s the most curious part of this process is trying to land on something that Ryan and I both find worth the effort and worth the time. It’s so interesting how few stories really fit this anthology,” he explained. “I continue to be fascinated by that fact. It’s really, really tricky to find something that you want to explore deeper."
So far, Netflix has featured Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers, Ed Gein, and Lizzie Borden across its four seasons. And by the looks of it, fans have to wait and see who will be featured next.
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